PRO TOUR NEWS -
* Tursunov loses to Rosol in Dubai, may fall out of Top Thirty
* Tsonga makes quarterfinal when Davydenko withdraws
* Berdych struggles but wins easily; Federer struggles and survives; Djokovic cruises
* Almagro still struggling; loses to Delbonis in Sao Paulo
Dubai
Singles – Second Round: (1) N Djokovic def. R Bautista Agut 6-1 6-3
Novak Djokovic was broken as he served for the match here. But it was the only sign of trouble in what was otherwise a pretty blistering victory — he promptly broke back to finish off the win. A warning to the rest of the field, perhaps, given that the next few seeds all struggled in one way or another.
Singles – Second Round: (3) T Berdych def. S Stakhovsky 6-2 6-1
Despite the scoreline, Tomas Berdych was really struggling — he put in only 37% of his first serves! And he still needs at least two more wins to stay at #6; he would need a title plus help from Andy Murray to make it to the Top Five.
Singles – Second Round: (4) R Federer def. R Stepanek 6-2 6-7(4-7) 6-3
Roger Federer went down an early break in the second set of this, finally got it back, but lost the tiebreak, and it meant that he had to spend more than two hours on the court. It doesn’t seem a very good recipe for success. At least he needs only one more win to defend his points. He leaves Radek Stepanek still right around #50.
Singles – Second Round: (5) J Tsonga def. N Davydenko walkover
Nikolay Davydenko will never make it back to the Top Fifty this way….
Singles – Second Round: (6) M Youzhny def. (WC) J Ward 6-1 7-6(7-3)
Mikhail Youzhny is starting to add points; one more win would take him to #14. But that win has to come against Novak Djokovic.
Singles – Second Round: (7) P Kohlschreiber def. A Seppi 6-3 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber is one win away from the Top 25. He leaves struggling Andreas Seppi still below the Top Thirty.
Singles – Second Round: L Rosol def. (8) D Tursunov 6-4 7-6(7-4)
Dmitry Tursunov was defending quarterfinalist points, so this immediately drops him from #29 to #30; there is a possibility he will fall lower, although the loss by Seppi makes that not very likely. Lukas Rosol will probably gain at least one spot.
Singles – Second Round: (WC) M Jaziri def. (WC) S Devvarman 6-3 7-5
Could Malek Jaziri finally be getting his game back after about two years of disastrous results? One event does not a comeback make, but this is obviously promising.
Doubles – First Round: Bhupathi/Istomin def. Marach/Mergea 4-6 6-3 16-14
Doubles – Quarterfinal: Bednarek/Dlouhy def. Rosol/Seppi 6-2 6-4
Acapulco
later
Sao Paulo
Singles – Second Round: F Delbonis def. (2) N Almagro 3-6 6-3 6-2
The massacre of seeds continues — Nicolas Almagro was the fifth to take the court, and the fifth to lose his opener. He really does seem messed up right now. He’s likely to stay #17 for the moment, but that may not last much longer.
Singles – Second Round: H Zeballos def. G Pella 6-3 6-4
Horacio Zeballos has fallen so far in the last month that this is a minor upset — Zeballos came in at #116, Guido Pella at #113. This obviously means no Top Hundred spot for Pella, and Zeballos still needs more himself.
Doubles – First Round: (2) Cabal/Farah def. Monroe/Stadler 6-4 3-6 10-6
Five wins in a row for Cabal/Farah.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
This Week’s Movers — Men
Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.
Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)
Leader: TIE:
Somdev Devvarman — Moved 18 places, from #96 to #78
Jan-Lennard Struff — Moved 18 places, from #117 to #99.
Devvarman won the big (but not particularly strong) Delhi Challenger. Struff made the semifinal at Marseille — the best result of his career.
Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)
Leader: Alexandr Dolgopolov — Moved 16 places, 70%, from #54 to #38
Dolgopolov made the Rio de Janeiro final before losing to Rafael Nadal.
Runner-Up: Ernests Gulbis — Moved 5 places, 22%, from #23 to #18
Gulbis won Marseille, his third title in the last year.
Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)
Loser: Michael Russell — Dropped 21 places, from #85 to #106
Russell was a quarterfinalist at Memphis last year, when it was still a 500 point event.
Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)
Loser: Feliciano Lopez, ranking increased 10 places, 37%, from #27 to #37.
Lopez was last year’s Memphis finalist.
Ranking Notes
There weren’t a lot of big upward moves this week. The only players who rose as much as 20% were Dolgopolov (30%) and Gulbis (22%); Devvarman was third with a 19% improvement. Andrey Golubev was fourth, up 16% (to #72), and Stuff was fifth (up 15%). We also note Steve Johnson up 16%, but he’s still only #119.
On the down side, most of the downward moves were because of Memphis coming off. Lopez fell 37%. Kei Nishikori, who beat him in that final, fell 33% (to #20). Marinko Matosevic and Denis Istomin, the semifinalists, fell 29% and 26% (to #71 and #54, respectively). Russell fell 25%, and Jack Sock, another quarterfinalist, fell 20% (to #98). They were the only players to fall as much as 20%.
Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”
These are subjective picks!
Tricky. Dolgopolov had the biggest move, but that was perhaps inflated because Rio was a very weak 500 point event. And Dolgopolov didn’t come close to a career high, and he didn’t win a title. Gulbis did win a title, even if a small one, and he hit a career high, and he beat the only Top Ten players in the draw to do it. So we’ll pick Gulbis.
KEYWORDS: Movers Men Gulbis
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Dubai (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Novak Djokovic
Acapulco (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal
Sao Paulo (250/Clay). Defending Champion: (new event)
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Indian Wells (1000/Hard). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of February 26, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Nadal………….14085
2..(2) Djokovic……….10170
3..(3) Wawrinka………..5560
4..(4) Ferrer………….5160
5..(5) Del Potro……….4870
6..(7) Murray………….4840
7..(6) Berdych…………4680
8..(8) Federer…………4215
9..(9) Gasquet…………2950
10.(10) Tsonga………….2785
11.(11) Raonic………….2485
12.(12) Haas……………2435
13.(13) Isner…………..2320
14.(14) Fognini…………2230
15.(15) Youzhny…………2145
16.(16) Robredo…………2005
17.(17) Almagro…………1840
18.(19) Janowicz………..1750
19.(20) Nishikori……….1715
20.(21) Anderson………..1685
21.(22) Dimitrov………..1675
22.(18) Gulbis………….1571
23.(23) Simon…………..1520
24.(24) Monfils…………1475
25.(25) Cilic…………..1455
26.(26) Kohlschreiber……1420
27.(27) Pospisil………..1359
28.(28) Paire…………..1275
29.(30) Mayer…………..1245
30.(29) Tursunov………..1212
**DRAWS
Dubai — week of February 24, 2014
……………..QF
1 Djokovic…….(1)Djokovic
6 Youzhny……..(6)Youzhny
4 Federer……..(4)Federer
8 Tursunov…….Rosol
5 Tsonga………(5)Tsonga
3 Berdych……..(3)Berdych
7 Kohlschreiber..(7)Kohlschreiber
2 del Potro…….Jaziri(WC)
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic
2 del Potro……..lost 1R (Devvarman)
3 Berdych
4 Federer
5 Tsonga
6 Youzhny
7 Kohlschreiber
8 Tursunov………lost 2R (Rosol)
Acapulco — week of February 24, 2014
1 Ferrer
5 Anderson
3 Isner
8 Pospisil
7 Gulbis
4 Dimitrov
6 Simon
2 Murray
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Ferrer
2 Murray
3 Isner
4 Dimitrov
5 Anderson
6 Simon
7 Gulbis
8 Pospisil….lost 1R (Dolgopolov)
Sao Paulo — week of February 24, 2014
…………….QF
1 Haas
7 L Mayer…….Zeballos
4 Monaco
6 Garcia-Lopez
8 Giraldo
3 Granollers
5 Haase
2 Almagro…….Delbonis
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Haas
2 Almagro…….lost 2R (Delbonis)
3 Granollers
4 Monaco
5 Haase………lost 1R (Sousa)
6 Garcia-Lopez..lost 1R (Dutra Silva)
7 L Mayer…….lost 1R (Pella)
8 Giraldo…….lost 1R (Bellucci)
******** SCORES ********
WEDNESDAY
Dubai
Singles – Second Round
(1) N Djokovic def. R Bautista Agut 6-1 6-3
(3) T Berdych def. S Stakhovsky 6-2 6-1
(4) R Federer def. R Stepanek 6-2 6-7(4-7) 6-3
(5) J Tsonga def. N Davydenko walkover
(6) M Youzhny def. (WC) J Ward 6-1 7-6(7-3)
(7) P Kohlschreiber def. A Seppi 6-3 6-3
L Rosol def. (8) D Tursunov 6-4 7-6(7-4)
(WC) M Jaziri def. (WC) S Devvarman 6-3 7-5
Doubles – First Round
Bhupathi/Istomin def. Marach/Mergea 4-6 6-3 16-14
Doubles – Quarterfinal
Bednarek/Dlouhy def. Rosol/Seppi 6-2 6-4
Acapulco
Sao Paulo
Singles – Second Round
H Zeballos def. G Pella 6-3 6-4
F Delbonis def. (2) N Almagro 3-6 6-3 6-2
Doubles – First Round
(2) Cabal/Farah def. Monroe/Stadler 6-4 3-6 10-6
Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Dubai, Ernests Gulbis, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Nicolas Almagro, Novak Djokovic, Radek Stepanek, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tomas Berdych
Djokovic, Federer, Tsonga All Win In Dubai & More Men’s Results – http://t.co/dcn4tAy0ci @rogerfederer @DjokerNole #ATP #Dubai #results